Rose Mattus, 90, co-founder of the Haagen- Dazs ice cream empire has died.

In 1959, Rose and her husband, Reuben spotted the market for a luxury ice cream and shunned the artificial flavours and non-fat dry milk favoured by the supermarket brands of the day, opting instread for a recipe high in butterfat, egg yolks and real cream. They made up the name Haagen-Dazs and put a map of Denmark on the carton. Reuben claimed their invention conveyed an aura of old-world tradition and craftsmanship. Rose was the business brain behind the brand, leaving her husband to concentrate on the ice cream’s quality.

In a memoir Rose wrote: “We found an alternative market, one steeped in the marijuana culture of the sixties. Our early clients were a motley assortment of oddballs with long hair, fringe tastes and decidedly eccentric business styles.”